Bonesetting, Chiropractic, and Cultism

Chapter 7: How Chiropractic
Got Its Start

Heading is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity

HIPPOCRATES,
400 B.C.

95 per cent of diseases are caused by displaced vertebrae; the remainder
by luxations of other joints.

D.D.
PALMER, 1910

In 1885, A group of magnetic healers passed through the town of Davenport,
Iowa, where D.D. Palmer, grocer and fish vender, was earning his livelihood.
These "healers" treated disease by placing their hands upon the
patient and letting "curative electromagnetic forces" ("animal
magnetism") flow from the body of the "gifted" healer through
the body of the patient. There were a great number of these healers in the
19th century, and, while many people recognized them as quacks, there were
large numbers who sincerely believed that certain individuals were actually
gifted with a healing touch. As a result, magnetic healing and the "laying
on of hands" was a profitable practice in those early days if the practitioner
had sufficient personality to attract a following. We remember from studying
ancient history that this method of healing had been used for centuries,
and that, at one time, people believed that kings were always given the
power to cure by the laying on of hands. So strong and so prevalent was
this belief, in those early years, in the curative power of the hands, that
there still exist many individuals today who believe and practice this method
of healing. Many of the magnetic healers sincerely believed that they had
curative powers, ignorant as they were of human psychology and the course
of human disease; and since their "cure" was primarily one of
faith, their own faith was instrumental in the effect of their treatment.
D.D. Palmer might have been one of those who believed that he had curative
power in his hands, for he observed the ways of the magnetic healers and
set out with them to convey his "cure" to suffering humanity.

During this time, Andrew Taylor Still, the founder of osteopathy, was
teaching that vertebral misalignment was the cause of all disease. Still's
treatment was performed by manipulating the structures of the body for the
purpose of relieving pressure upon nerves and blood vessels that supposedly
resulted from misaligned or "subluxated" bones. Some say that
during Palmer's ten years as a magnetic healer he observed and learned the
ways of the osteopath, studied the teachings of Still, and then started
to promote some of these theories as his own. In any event, in 1895, twenty-one
years after Still founded osteopathy, Palmer announced the principles of
chiropractic, which were almost identical to those of osteopathy. He had
supposedly made his discovery when he manipulated the spine of a colored
janitor, who had been deaf for 17 years, and restored his hearing. According
to the sworn testimony of B.J. Palmer, son of D.D. Palmer, here is what
happened:

Harvey Lillard was a janitor in the building in which father had his
office. Harvey came in one day, thoroughly deaf. Father asked him how long
he had been deaf, and he told him seventeen years.

Father said, "How did this occur?" Harvey said, "I was
in a stooped, cramped position and while in that position I felt something
pop and heard it crack in my back."

Father looked him over, laid him down on the cot, and there was a great
subluxation (maladjustment) on the back. Harvey said he went deaf within
two minutes after that popping occurred in the spine, and he had been deaf
ever since.

Father reasoned out the fundamental thought of this thing, which was
that if something went wrong in that back and caused deafness, the reduction
of that subluxation would cure it. That bump was adjusted -- was reduced
-- and within ten minutes Harvey had his hearing and has had it ever since
[1].

D.D. Palmer organized his theory of chiropractic, polished up his technic,
and started his search for students. It is interesting to note that, appropriately
enough, chiropractic was named by a minister, the Rev. Samuel H. Weed, who
suggested the Greek term "cheirprakticos," which means "hand-practitioner."
In 1897, the first student enrolled in Palmer's school of chiropractic.
Simultaneously, the osteopathic profession, established as a system of adjusting
the vertebrae since 1874, published this statement in the Journal of
Osteopathy:

There is one fake magnetic healer in Iowa who issued a paper devoted
to his alleged new system, and who until recently made up his entire publication
from the contents of the Journal of Osteopathy, changing it only to insert
the name of his own practice.

D.D. Palmer consistently maintained, however, that all he said and did
was his own creation:

There is a vast difference between treating effects and adjusting the
causes. I was the first to adjust the cause of disease. . . . The man who
had the intellectual capacity to comprehend the displacement of vertebrae;
the mental ability to grasp the significance of nerve impingement; the
power to conceive and discriminate between normal and abnormal positions;
the foresight and wisdom to discern the outcome; the genius of originality
to create such a unique science; the judgment needed for the occasion;
the brain caliber capable of reasoning on this heretofore perplexing question
-- the cause of disease; the sense of touch required to discover a racked
vertebra and the skill and tact to replace it, was the one destined to
discover and develop the science which he named chiropractic [2].

Palmer, obviously, had no small opinion of himself -- all of which is
a necessary quality to practice any form of faith healing. According to
some chiropractic writers, however, Palmer did not do too well in magnetic
healing, and, for that reason, was continually searching for a better system
of healing. In noting the comments of the Journal of Osteopathy in
1897, we are forced to suspect that D.D. Palmer might simply have been an
opportunist, grasping for an activity that would elevate him to the status
he thought he deserved.

So, with the contention that "95 percent of diseases are caused
by displaced vertebrae; the remainder by luxations of other joints,"
and with defensive accusations that, quoting Palmer, ". . . several
persons have tried to make fame and reputation for themselves by an endeavor
to wrest from me the honor and distinction due me as the discoverer and
developer of chiropractic," Palmer opened the first chiropractic college
in Davenport, Iowa: a three-week course with no entrance requirements. The
school, called the Palmer Infirmary and Chiropractic Institute, taught simple,
"straight chiropractic" -- that is, adjustment of the joints as
a treatment for disease. Other chiropractic schools, however, much to the
consternation of the original Palmerites, began to dilute pure chiropractic
with other therapeutic measures (such as massage, colon irrigation, and
heat lamps). This was the beginning of the "mixers" as opposed
to the "straights" who limited themselves to manipulation of the
spine with "hands only." The pattern of disagreement that began
in those early days of chiropractic remains in the practice today.

When the Palmer Infirmary began to totter under the inept leadership
of D.D. Palmer, B.J. Palmer entered the picture; leading the "straights,"
he took over his father's school, now called the Palmer School of Chiropractic.
"B.J." was a shrewd business man, and by 1921 the institution
in Davenport had an annual income of $1,000,000 at its peak. This was quite
a feat, considering the fact t at Palmer had no formal education beyond
the 9th grade.

In 1921, two years after World War I had ended, the Palmer School had
2,000 students. Many of them were veterans of the war who had been suddenly
released from the armed forces without an occupation or trade. It was during
that time that the Palmer School of Chiropractic was estimated to be a $1,000,000-a-year
business. In 1932, however, as the Great Depression hit the world, students
became more scarce, and the enrollment at the Palmer School dropped to 300.
Today, the Palmer School has an average of 1,000 students enrolled in its
classes. The school has had as many as 3,200 students, according to its
catalogs.

A May 1960 issue of the Palmer School Fountain Head News featured the
address of a practitioner who stated that there were 3,600 students in the
Palmer School in the fall of 1922. He also stated that the Universal Chiropractic
Association, under the leadership of B.J. Palmer, was carrying on a public
relations program ("there were 33 magazines and publications carrying
Chiropractic copy and advertisements") that cost the organization $15,774.58
in April 1924.

Theatrical personnel, some of whom traveled from state to state, were
given "Palmergrams," "which entitled them to free service
from the local Chiropractor, and these performers gave Chiropractic a plug
from the stage in return for the service they had received."

In 1946, the school in Davenport, still privately owned, was turning
out chiropractors after only eighteen months of instruction. "Our school,"
Palmer explained, "is on a business, not a professional basis. We manufacture
chiropractors."

"Give me a simple mind that thinks along single tracts, give me
30 days to instruct him, and that individual can go forth on the highways
and byways and get more sick people well than the best, most complete, all
around, unlimited medical education of any medical man who ever lived,"
said Palmer. No doubt, many would-be chiropractors became convinced that
manipulation of the spine was probably the quickest way to rescue the patient
from suffering and the "doctor" from poverty [3]. In any event,
the fact that medical science had not yet found the answer to a great many
of man's illnesses, when added to the short course of chiropractic study,
attracted a large number of students, many of whom account for a good number
of the chiropractors practicing today.

Until October 1950, the Palmer School continued to offer the eighteen-month
course for the chiropractic degree. By this time, however, the majority
of states were requiring that a chiropractor have four years of training
in order to apply for a license; thus, the Palmer School was forced to comply
with these standards in order to maintain its volume of students. Although
this school was one of the last chiropractic schools to raise its educational
standards, it still maintains an enrollment that is usually about three
times as large as that of the average chiropractic college.

B.J. Palmer instilled into his students the faith and enthusiasm necessary
to sell a controversial service or product. "They have got to work
just like machinery," he said. "A course of salesmanship goes
along with their training. We teach them the idea and then we show them
how to sell it." Palmer made these statements in 1950, the same year
he reluctantly raised the course of education at the Palmer School to four
years. Under the principle of salesmanship, however, the Palmer students
carried on, selling under the same pressure that attracted them; a cycle
unbroken, even today, among chiropractors who use salesmanship to "sell"
themselves, their profession, their patients, and new students for the Palmer
School.

During the early 1900's, hundreds of chiropractic schools sprang up,
many of them offering correspondence courses. One witness before a U. S.
Senate committee asserted that, at one time, there were more than 200 chiropractic
schools in Michigan alone. "They would start up with anything,"
he testified, "in a back parlor for instance. We had a man on East
Capitol Street who was advertising to teach chiropractic in 30 days for
$10." Like many other chiropractic colleges, the Palmer School, the
"Fountain Head of Chiropractic," was conducting a high-powered
advertising campaign to attract students. "Do you want to follow manual
labor or a profession?" the ads asked. "The common labor field
is crowded. There are many persons who want to do hard work. Let those who
are anxious have it. You fit yourself for a profession."

In addition to the large number of chiropractic schools that cropped
up around the country in those early years, there were many practitioners,
holding various unheard of degrees, conducting courses in "spondylotherapy"
(spinal treatment), or offering mail-order courses in chiropractic and spinal
care. Albert Abrams, for example, a quack medical practitioner, was offering
"clinical courses" in spondylotherapy in various parts of the
country, which he started with publication of his book, Spondylotherapy,
in 1910. This was the same year, incidentally, that D.D. Palmer, the founder
of chiropractic, published his books on chiropractic. Abrams charged $200
for a course in spinal therapy. It was not until he had exhausted the financial
possibilities of this approach that he turned to the creation of his celebrated
"electronic" diagnostic and treatment machines (discussed elsewhere)
and a subsequent concentration upon the abdominal area of the patient [4].

In the mail-order field, Hobart Bradstreet was selling a course in "spine
motion" in order to enable every man to be "his own chiropractor."
Full-page advertisements, entitled "Bride and Groom," pictured
a gray-haired gentleman of advanced age who had just taken a bride of twenty.
The bridegroom's youthful vitality was supposedly due to Hobart's course
in "spine motion." The bride was quoted as having said: :The Colonel
may look his age, but by all that's remarkable he doesn't act it -- nor
feel it, if his enthusiasm is any indication." [3]

The advertisement, which was supposed to have been a true testimony,
was exposed by the Federal Trade Commission as fraudulent. Needless to say,
the aphrodisiacal approach of Bradstreet's advertisements probably sold
many courses in "spinal motion" and created many self-made chiropractors.

Another notorious quack of the early 1900's was George
Starr White, who claimed several degrees, three of which (N.D., D.C., and
Ph.C.) were issued to him in 1921 by the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic.
White also had medical degrees obtained from the New York Homeopathic Medical
College in 1908 [5]. White, who promoted himself through newspaper advertisements
and testimonials, was a follower of Albert Abrams and taught courses in
spondylotherapy -- that lasted one week -- throughout the west and midwest.
In addition to the practice of chiropractic, White was responsible for the
promotion of an endless array of mechanical and medical nostrums. Many such
"medical practitioners" are quoted today by cults and quasimedical
organizations that still exist in the twilight of pseudoprofessionalism.
The teachings and quackery of both Abrams and White still exert an influence
over the practice of a few present-day chiropractors.

Needless to say, under the conditions of the first part of the 20th Century,
the number of chiropractors rapidly multiplied. By the late 1920's, competition
began to get a bit tough, and, in addition, many chiropractors were being
prosecuted for practicing medicine without a license. In fact, things were
becoming quite insecure. As a result, practicing chiropractors swarmed upon
the state legislators, demanding higher educational standards for new chiropractors
and legalization of their own status. As the laws were passed, those chiropractors
already practicing were granted licenses under "grandfather clauses."
Consequently, thousands of chiropractors who had received only short-term
educations were legally licensed and shielded from further competition.
The large numbers of chiropractors graduated in the early years of the chiropractic
profession gave the chiropractors some assurance of legalization, for in
numbers their existence was justified and, en masse, a great deal of influence
could be exerted toward their recognition through legislative and licensing
bodies. Realizing this, chiropractic educators stressed quantity rather
than quality, with hopes that their profession, once legalized, could be
properly developed with time.

By 1931, chiropractors had been legally recognized in 39 states. Practically
all of laws were put into effect in the early 1900's. Kansas and North Dakota
were the first states to pass laws, in 1913 and 1915 respectively, giving
legal recognition to chiropractic -- eighteen years after the founding of
chiropractic and 39 years after Andrew Taylor Still announced the principles
of osteopathy. It soon became obvious, however, that legalizing the practice
of chiropractic and permitting chiropractors themselves to examine applicants
for licensure did not raise the quality of chiropractic practice to any
appreciable extent. As a result, many of the states began to put basic science
laws into effect whereby all practitioners were required to take an examination
in the basic sciences before they could apply for examination by their respective
professional boards. Connecticut and Wisconsin passed the first basic science
laws in 1925, requiring that examinations be taken in such subjects as anatomy,
bacteriology, physiology, chemistry, diagnosis, and pathology. B.J. Palmer,
the private owner of a school that ... manufactured" chiropractors,
felt that the legislation requested by practitioners in the field, and the
resulting basic science laws in some states, would mean the end of chiropractic.
"Chiropractic is doomed," he warned his colleagues in 1928. (On
October 13, 1927, Palmer had informed gathered members of the Florida Chiropractic
Association that "chiropractic is doomed to die within the next ten
years.")

Although the basic science bills did not put an end to chiropractic,
they proved to be effective in cutting down the number of chiropractors
licensed in those states where this measure was put into effect. From 1927
to 1944, for example, only 367 chiropractors took the examinations and only
28% managed to pass. During that same time, 87% of nearly 20,000 medical
students passed the examinations. After 1944, a considerably larger number
of chiropractors took the basic science examination than before, but the
percent that passed remained about the same. Between the year of 1927 and
1950, for example, 1,984 chiropractors took these tests and about 33% managed
to pass. Of 37,447 students and graduates of medical schools, 86% passed
the examinations.
Today, about half the states have basic science bills in their statutes.
B.J. Palmer's prediction that basic science laws would put an end to chiropractic
might have proved correct if every state had passed these laws along with
other laws legalizing the practice of chiropractic during those early and
crucial years. As it turned out, however, it was still not difficult to
get a license in a great many other states, and the chiropractic schools
continued to flourish.

According to present-day chiropractic literature, the popular trend of
all states to require at least two years of preprofessional college training
for licensure in the healing arts poses a serious threat to the yet undeveloped
chiropractic profession. Whether the practice will survive such demands
long enough to develop its body into an organized, recognized, and professional
group remains to be seen. It is of interest to note here that the same concern
expressed by B.J. Palmer in 1928 when the basic science laws were being
put into effect, and when the Palmer School was forced to raise its standards
to support a four-year course in 1950, was again expressed by Palmer at
the prospect of chiropractic schools being forced to require two years of
preprofessional training for licensure under state law. It would seem that
while Palmer believed chiropractic to be a healing art that was superior
to all others, he also believed that the practice would die in direct proportion
to elevated educational standards. This would lead one to wonder whether
Palmer really believed that chiropractic is a "superior therapy,"
or whether he believed that it is a practice that would then and forever
appeal only to the semi-literate and half-educated. In any event, it seems
that Palmer's fears this time were not without justification; for, as we
demonstrated in an earlier chapter, the number of chiropractors are actually
diminishing in certain states as standards arrive that are inevitably demanded
for all those who would treat human disease and label themselves physicians.
Contrary to Palmer's dreams, it is quite an impossibility for any school
of healing, regardless of the simplicity of its philosophy and its teachings,
to separately compete with other schools of healing that have higher standards.
It is also quite true that, of two schools requiring equal educational standards,
the one more limited in its privileges would have more difficulty in securing
students.

In the growing days of the chiropractic profession, when competition
began to get tough, some of the practitioners, who were not already graduates
of "mixed" chiropractic colleges, added other measures to their
practice in order to "beat competition." In addition, from the
beginning, there were some who were to inevitably experience disappointment
in the use of the "straight" chiropractic adjustment. Many of
these practitioners, losing much of their faith in the chiropractic adjustment,
also searched out and used other therapeutic measures in their practice.
Thus, the battle between the "mixers" and the "straights,"
sprouting from the first seed of chiropractic, grew progressively worse
with the passing years.

The Neurocalometer

In 1924, B.J. Palmer came out with a neurocalometer,
an instrument that was said to locate "pinched nerves," the cause
of all disease. Described as a measurer of "nerve heat," the neurocalometer
was probably also brought into existence in order to permit the chiropractors
to meet the competition of the osteopaths who were using fantastic pieces
of diagnostic equipment designed by Albert Abrams, an M.D. turned charlatan.
Needless to say, the neurocalometer, owned and leased exclusively by the
Palmer School, not only provided a rich source of income for its promoter
but also attracted many new students to the Palmer School where they could
earn the "exclusive right" to use the instrument -- for a fee.
The device was promoted as an infallible method of locating "nerve
pressure" (obviously a sensational innovation for the chiropractor),
and the practitioner who did not have one was "less competent"
than the practitioner who did.

The following description of the chiropractor's neurocalometer, condensed,
was taken froma 1924 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association:

The "neurocalometer" appeared to be two thermopiles connected
mechanically but separated sufficiently to allow them to "straddle"
the vertebral column. From the thermopiles ran wires to carry the weak
electric current (always generated when the thermopile is subjected to
difference in temperature) to a galvanometer. Like Abrams' device, it was
sealed and the lessee had to sign a contract not to break or tamper with
the seats. The price of a lease of a neurocalometer was $2,200-$1,000 cash
at the time the contract was made and $10 a month for 10 years. The lessee
was required to charge his patient $10 for a neurocalometer "reading"
-- no cut rates permitted. It was announced at the time that the neurocalometer
was brought out that no other "college" of chiropractic would
be able to lease a neurocalometer and those who were considering taking
up chiropractic as a trade were told that if they matriculated in any other
school except the one from which the neurocalometer emanated they would
not be able to lease a neurocalometer.

Thus, it seems that the neurocalometer was introduced primarily as an
instrument of commercialism, designed to take advantage of the fact that
it was originated at the "Fountain Head of Chiropractic." Today,
a large number of chiropractors are still using the neurocalometer, still
advertising the fact that they use, in their office, this "infallible"
method of locating nerve pressure. There are also many other similar devices
on the chiropractic market for "locating and measuring nerve pressure."

In 1935, eleven years after Palmer introduced the neurocalometer and
about one year after the ten-year lease many chiropractors had on the device
ran out, Palmer introduced the neurocalograph, which was essentially a neurocalometer
that made an automatic graph of "nerve interference" as it was
found. By 1953, the Palmer School was also employing the use of a "chirometer,"
an improved neurocalograph that was supposed to determine whether or not
nerve interference existed and, after treatment, whether or not the nerve
interference had been removed. Probably, few chiropractors cared whether
or not the original neurocalometer actually worked, for it was obviously
a brilliant piece of salesmanship when used in conjunction with the chiropractic
adjustment.

The 1960-61 Membership Roster of the International Chiropractic Association
lists 21 diagnostic instruments used by its members: Analagraph, Chirograph,
Chirometer, Elcctrograph, Electro Neurometer, Micro-Dynameter,
Nervometer, Nervoscope, Neurocalograph, Neurocalometer, Neurocalotone, Neuro-Encephalometer,
Neuropyrometer, Neuroscribe, Neuro-Sound, Neurotemporacter, Thermograph,
Thermeter, Thermoscribe, Toftness Research Instrument, Visual Nerve Tracing
Instrument (and, of course, the X-ray). On June 21, 1962, the Food and Drug
Administration announced plans to seize the Micro-Dynameter. Commissioner
George P. Larrick said that "thousands of patients are being hoodwinked
into believing they have diseases they do not have or failing to get proper
treatment for diseases they do have." F.D.A. officials added that the
Micro-Dynameter could not correctly diagnose any disease, and that it was
capable only of measuring the amount of perspiration on the skin of the
patient.

Strangely enough, many chiropractors believed in Palmer, in spite of
the fact that his exclusive innovations placed many of them in the "obsolete"
bracket unless they partook of the Palmer regime and the "Fountain
Head of Chiropractic." In our discussion elsewhere, we have described
a change that took place in the method of treatment at the Palmer School
in spite of the fact that thousands had been taught earlier to use a different
method. This change provided the school with another "exclusive"
that brought many chiropractors back for post-graduate training and many
new students to the "Home of Chiropractic."
In comparing the development of osteopathy and chiropractic, it seems that
the development of one closely parallels the other, with chiropractic following
a pattern already set by osteopathy. Not only is this evident in initial
theories and treatment methods, as shown by comparing old professional literature,
it is also evident in methods of utilizing various mechanical devices. Dr.
Arthur Cramp, for example, described similar use of two popular osteopathic
and chiropractic "nostrums" in his 1936 edition of Nostrums
& Quackery & Pseudo-Medicine, which he compiled after
serving 30 years as Director of Investigation of the American Medical Association:

When Spondylotherapy began to wane as a business asset, Abrams brought
into existence his so-called "Electronic Reactions" which soon
became abbreviated "E.R.A." There went with this new cult various
pieces of apparatus that Abrams leased to his disciples. Each piece was
scaled and the lessee had to sign a contract not to open it. Among the
many pieces of electrical hokum devised by Abrams, there were two outstanding
devices. One was for the alleged diagnosis of disease; the other was for
the treatment of such diseases as were diagnosed. . . . The diagnostic
instrument, according to Abrams, determined the "vibratory rate"
of disease. The treatment device known as the "Oscilloclast"
cured the disease by applying to the patient the same "vibratory rate"
as that of the disease of which the patient was suffering. . . . Many of
the outstanding quacks of the country became lessees of the Abrams devices
and the fact that Abrams would lease his instrument to osteopaths prolonged
the life of their dying cult. Incidentally, it also resulted in forcing
the chiropractors to bring out their piece of mechanical hokum (the Neurocalometer)
in order to meet the competition of the osteopaths with their Oscilloclasts
and other Abrams magic boxes [3].

Abrams died in 1924, but it is reported that lie made a fortune leasing
his devices. Many of Abrams' disciples, those who leased his machines, also
did quite well diagnosing and treating diseases that did not actually exist.
If the patient was unable to make it to the office of the practitioner,
to be examined by the "Electronic Reactions" machine, all he had
to do was send in a drop of blood or an autograph and the diagnosis could
be made from that. For a specified fee, a cure was usually guaranteed. Many
of the practitioners professed to be able to cure a patient who was hundreds
of miles away simply by tuning the "vibratory rate" of the machine
to correspond with that determined by examination of a drop of blood on
a piece of white blotting paper. It seems that the "vibrations"
would penetrate the atmosphere, seeking out the only individual to whom
they would correspond, and cure that individual of his illness. Like all
other instruments and methods of quackery, the machine, employed in the
darkness of ignorance, probably seemed to be 90 percent effective, since
the majority of those gullible individuals who were treated by it either
had no disease at all or just recovered with time.

It would be interesting to discuss more of Abrams' fantastic devices,
but no useful purpose would result from further diversion at this point.
In describing some of Abrams' activities we simply wanted to demonstrate
how activities and illusions in one cult can often be paralleled in another.
In 1954, the Electronics Medical Foundation in San Francisco, still distributing
Abrams' electronic nostrum, was refrained by injunction from the Food and
Drug Administration to cease interstate shipment of the machines. It was
estimated that about 5,000 of the devices were being used throughout the
United States by osteopaths, chiropractors, naturopaths, and "other
fringe practitioners." There are still some chiropractors, in certain
states, who employ machines resembling Abrams' Oscilloclast .Some of the
practitioners who own these machines, especially naturopaths, tour the country
and conduct "clinics" in the offices of other chiropractors and
naturopaths. In Most Rates where chiropractors are licensed, however, chiropractic
examining boards usually attempt to prevent the use of this device. There
are other devices regularly used in some chiropractors' offices that are
the subject of much criticism.

The 20th century, only on the threshold of science and better education,
presents many opportunities for pseudoscientific pretensions, the success
of which are not so much dependent upon the intelligence of the promoters
as upon ignorance and disregard for human ethics. In the field of healing,
"There is no quackery too absurd to find its defenders. The healing
power of nature and the vagaries of the human mind are sufficient explanation.
. . . Credulity is born of lack of knowledge rather than lack of brains."
[3]

Deafness and Spinal Manipulation

The contention that D.D. Palmer, in establishing the chiropractic profession,
restored the sense of hearing in a man who had been deaf for 17 years by
adjusting a "bump" in his spine has been thoroughly disputed by
accredited authorities -- at least insofar as the explanation of how it
occurred is concerned. There has been no real evidence that a misplaced
vertebra, causing nerve pressure, is capable of causing deafness. The fact
that all the nerves of hearing are enclosed within the skull, with none
of these nerves originating in the spinal cord, brings this statement from
modern chiropractors:

Actually, no miracle was involved. Sympathetic nerves leaving the spinal
cord in the upper thoracic area and regulating the blood supply of the
structures in the head apparently had been freed from irritation. The nerves
of hearing required this blood supply in order to function [6].

To some degree, the blood supply in the head is controlled by a portion
of the sympathetic nervous system located adjacent to and up and down the
spinal column: the very uppermost portion called the "superior cervical
ganglion." It states in a medical text dealing with body mechanics,
for example:

The superior cervical ganglion is one of the most important in the sympathetic
(nervous) system. It innervates the blood vessels of the head, the muscles
of the hair bulbs, the sweat glands of the head, the dilator muscle fibers
of the eye and the orbital muscles of Muller. It connects with the first
four cervical nerves and the pharyngeal and the superior cardiac nerves.
Its usual location is opposite the second and the third cervical vertebrae
[upper part of the neck]. . . .

The sympathetic ganglia connected with the dorsal [upper back] nerve
roots, so far as can be determined, are not subject, as are the cervical
ganglia, to mechanical trauma in faulty body mechanics [7].

D.D. Palmer supposedly adjusted a "great subluxation" (a "bump")
in the dorsal area of Harvey Lillard's spine -- the 4th dorsal vertebra
to be exact -- far removed from the sympathetic ganglion, located high up
in the neck, that is known to innervate some of the blood vessels in the
head. The 4th dorsal vertebra is eight vertebrae below the 3rd cervical
vertebra where the superior cervical ganglion is located. In today's chiropractic
literature, the 4th dorsal vertebra is designated as "Heart Place,"
or the place to look for the cause and correction of heart trouble. If slight
deviations of the spine here could cause heart disease, it would seem that
a "subluxation" in the spine of Harvey Lillard severe enough to
cause a visible "bump" would have surely stricken him down with
heart disease. Yet, supposedly, the nerves of hearing, remotely enclosed
within the skull, were affected by the disorder, resulting in deafness which
lasted for 17 healthy years.

Primarily, the sympathetic ganglia (a chain of nerve centers located
outside and near the spinal column), which supply the body's involuntary
functions, work independently of the central nervous system and most often
receive nerve fibers from the spinal cord for the purpose of coordinating
functions under their control. While irritation of the superior cervical
ganglion might occur as a result of disturbances immediately adjacent to
it, with resulting symptoms, the function of that ganglion would hardly
be significantly altered by a disturbance far down the spine. Irritation
of a sympathetic ganglion in the dorsal area, where Palmer worked, while
rarely caused by vertebral deviations, has been known to result from displacement
of the rib joints. Although many vague symptoms may result from such irritation,
there is no known possibility of deafness occurring. To single out one spinal
nerve trunk as a controlling factor over hearing has even less possibilities
of being correct.

It is doubtful whether deafness could occur even by direct irritation
of the uppermost ganglion in the neck. Irritation of the superior cervical
ganglion in the neck has been recognized by medical authorities as a cause
of pseudomigraine headache, especially following severe injuries in the
area of the cervical spine. Such irritation has occurred numerous times
-- as we shall show -- but deafness has not occurred as a result. In contending
that deafness occurred and was corrected immediately following displacement
and correction of a vertebra between the shoulders, chiropractors claim
that nerve fibers (apparently undiscovered by neurologists) pass from the
spinal cord by way of the thoracic vertebrae, to the sympathetic chain,
and travel up to the nerve ganglia in the neck in sufficient numbers to
exert a controlling influence over the blood supply to the nerves of hearing.
While it is true that the sympathetic chain in the neck receives spinal
nerve fibers from the upper thoracic spinal nerves, most authorities contend
that "it is probable that few, if any of the afferent fibers, pass
in the trunk above the middle cervical ganglion." [8] In any event,
it can hardly be imagined that subluxation of a single thoracic vertebra
could sufficiently curb the function of the nerves of hearing to cause deafness.
In the intricate and little understood, interwoven mechanism of the nervous
system, however, one might theoretically link quite impossible effects with
highly improbable causes. In argument with chiropractors, medical authorities
have often stated:

For many years chiropractors have claimed that they have discovered
an entirely new system of nerves in the human body, a system not yet known
to the neurosurgeons who have spent many lifetimes in the study of nerve
structures [9].

While this may seem to be an exaggeration of the chiropractor's attitude,
it is obviously applicable as long as he continues to maintain that subluxation
of a vertebra, such as the 4th dorsal, is capable of causing such conditions
as deafness. In referring to the case of Harvey Lillard, it is significant
to note that there has never been a similar case demonstrated -- in spite
of the fact that chiropractors are daily engaged in correcting "subluxations"
that supposedly exist in the spine of everyone.

Giving the Harvey Lillard cure the benefit of a doubt -- that is, if
the phenomenon described by Palmer actually did occur -- it obviously occurred
under such rare circumstances that it would hardly justify a basis for applying
the same treatment to the general ills of mankind. Unless chiropractic authorities
are confident that time will prove the more highly educated neurologist
wrong, and the less educated chiropractor right, it seems that more progress
would be made in the field of chiropractic if claims such as those surrounding
the case of Harvey Lillard were submitted to the realm of speculation and
not used as positive evidence comprising the foundation of a profession.
It should be remembered, however, that, right or wrong, the existence and
development of a dual and antithetical system of healing, in competition
with medical science in general, could not possibly survive, in the beginning,
without supporting sensational claims not found within the realm of medical
science. Such claims could not be abandoned, even if they were false, until
more substantial foundations were constructed or adopted.

In discussing the correction of Harvey Lillard's spine, it is difficult
to believe that any spinal joint, misplaced for 17 years, could suddenly
and easily be restored, with an immediate correction of all the difficulties
it had caused, leaving no permanent disorder of the supposedly affected
tissues -- locally or remotely. A displacement in the spine severe enough
to cause a "bump" on the back would, of necessity, have to be
a rather severe dislocation and, consequently, a quite crippling injury.
In addition, adhesions usually form around displaced joints after a matter
of weeks, and, over a period of time, muscles, ligaments, and other tissues
shorten to accommodate the change in the joints. Yet Palmer was supposed
to have made the correction in one treatment!

The more incredulous authors of chiropractic literature prefer to believe
that Harvey Lillard was only partially deaf, thus, seemingly, leaning more
away from the improbable incidence. The pamphlet, "The Present Day
Doctor of Chiropractic," for example, states:

It is a far cry from that day more than half a century ago (1895) when
D.D. Palmer, a nonmedical man, treated Harvey Lillard who had lost approximately
90% of his hearing and had been in this condition for twenty years. Finding
a lump on the backbone, Palmer "adjusted" the area, and in what
was regarded by many as a miraculous cure the patient's hearing was restored.
Thereafter, his own medical physician made an examination and attested the
full recovery of the hearing of his patient [6].

The author above states that Harvey Lillard had lost only 90% of his
hearing, whereas other writers say that Lillard was "thoroughly deaf."
It is interesting to note, however, that in the original description of
the incident by B.J. Palmer, D.D. Palmer asked Harvey Lillard how he became
deaf and Lillard answered him. He said he had been deaf for 17 years. (The
writer quoted above reported that Lillard had been deaf for twenty years.)
In a Wisconsin court in 1910, a source of information quoted earlier, B.J.
Palmer was questioned concerning his father's explanation of the janitor's
treatment and his alleged cure. During the court examination, wrote Albert
Q. Maisel in a 1946 issue of Hygeia:

Young Palmer was not embarrassed when the cross questioning attorney
asked how the janitor managed to hold a conversation while still deaf.
Nor did he have any trouble in proving that a spinal kink could cause blindness
or deafness despite the fact that these nerves do not pass through the
spine. He pointed out to the gasping court that the trouble was that the
standard systems of anatomy showed only one set of nerve paths, whereas
the chiropractors had discovered a second system of nerve paths "not
recorded in any anatomy I know anything of." [10]

Thus, a chiropractor, through mysterious methods and nerve pathways unknown
to medical science, supposedly restored the hearing of a man who was, obviously,
only partially deaf and who has since become the guiding inspiration of
many chiropractors' treatment for disease.

Needless to say, the power of suggestion is extremely effective on those
who have only partially lost a function. The "miraculous" cures
wrought in faith healers' tents throughout the nation, for example, stem
largely from delusions of improvement in partially lost functions that are
temporarily improved by an enhanced state of mind. Harvey Lillard's "recovery"
might have been such a case. In any event, the ignorance of explanation
surrounding the treatment and the alleged recovery certainly detracts from
the reliability of the testimony.

In discussing the effects of manipulation on deafness, Dr. James Mennell,
in his book on joint manipulation, provided an explanation of how manipulation
might possibly affect deafness if such treatment were applied to a source
of pain and discomfort in the neck. Although Palmer manipulated Harvey Lillard
between the shoulders in treating him for deafness -- thereby reducing the
possibilities that the treatment could have had much physical effect upon
his condition -- it is of interest, regardless, to consider Mennell's discussion:

There are many patients, take the deaf as an example, who in addition
to the deafness, suffer pain and discomfort in the ascending branches of
the superficial cervical plexus and if this pain is relieved by manipulation
of the joints in the neighborhood of the third and fourth cervical regions,
the patient will often suffer from the delusion that hearing has improved.
This, of course, is a definite gain for the individual, in spite of the
fact that no alteration in any of the structures connected with the auditory
mechanism has been effected. Still, if manipulative treatment can convey
a treatment by suggestion which adds to the well-being of the patient, it
is surely justifiable, provided no false claim is made as an excuse for
continuing treatment that is no longer required for physical reasons or
likely to be of further assistance [11].

Mennell, who recognized the suggestive nature of manipulation and the
tendency of such treatment to be falsely impressed in the mind of both the
patient and the practitioner, cautioned against unwarranted use of the treatment,
on the basis of suggestion, in conditions outside the physical field. What
Mennell cautions the practitioner against is, in essence, the basis underlying
the practice of many chiropractors who treat disease in a general practice.

Aside from a sense of well-being and temporary relief of pain that often
follows gentle manipulation, attention is often diverted from the site of
the pain, or pain relatively dulled for the movement, by heavy and vigorous
manipulation that is painful in itself. Apprehension, or painful treatment,
very often leaves one feeling that the original pain is better, only to
have the pain return when one's emotional state has subsided. There are
many explanations of the effects of physical treatment, much of which is
of immeasurable value as long as it is not applied with misrepresentation
or with promiscuity.